Fishing hooks, in general, are "J"-shaped pieces of metal having an eyelet at the top of the "J" for attaching a fishing line, and a barb at the opposite end of the "J." The most common types of fishing hooks are the single hook, and the treble hook. While both types of hooks are found on artificial lures, typically, only a single hook is used for live bait.
However, when fishing with live bait for large game fish such as musky, it is very desirous to attach more than one hook to the live bait. It has been known to attach, in addition to a single hook through the mouth of the live bait, a treble hook approximate the mid-section of the bait. To do so, an additional line segment with a treble hook attached, is run from the single hook, back along the bait to a desired location. One of the barbs of the treble hook is embedded into the bait, leaving the other two barbs exposed to hook a fish.
While such a rig provides the desired additional hooks for live bait, there are disadvantages associated with the same. One major problem with such prior art rigs is encountered when a fisherman or woman attempts to set the hook into the game fish striking the bait. To set a hook, a fisherman must provide a quick strong jerk to the bait, which is intended to cause the exposed hooks to embed into the mouth of the game fish. However, as the fisherman or woman jerks the prior art rig, the barb of the treble hook which is attached to the bait tends to embed deeper into the bait. As a result, the force of the jerk to transferred to the bait, and the exposed barbs of the treble hook all too often do not embed into the game fish. Further, the resultant jerk can pull the bait and the hooks from the mouth of the striking fish. As a result, the game fish is not hooked, and the live bait is injured or killed. Thus a new live bait must be rigged and substantial time, not to mention the game fish, is lost. In general, any hesitation or hinderance in the movement of the hooks when setting the hooks, could result in failing to hook the game fish.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method and device for rigging a live bait with extra hooks, in such a manner that increases the chances for quickly and successfully hooking a striking game fish. The present invention solves the above identified problems associated with prior art rigs and methods of rigging live bait with extra hooks.